Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave in a well preserved body but rather to slide in sideways totally worn out, shouting Holy Crap, what a ride! Now to just convince Doodlebug of this!

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Mississippi Mud Brownies

I promise this is not turning into another food blog, but; I had to share this recipe... OH MY GOSH, these brownies are SO GOOD!!! For those of you not familiar with the Tasty Kitchen website, please stop right now and click over. This is a great site to find any and all types of recipes, ranging from easy to difficult.

This recipe is courtesy of Taylor at Greens and Chocolate and after looking through her blog, she is quite the cook and I have already found several more recipes I am going to be trying. I sincerely hope that she does not mind me posting the ingredients and directions here.

Both Doodle and I are thoroughly enjoying eating these brownies. The peanut butter is what sets them apart for me because who does not love chocolate and peanut butter!

Ingredients

¾ cupsAll-purpose Flour

2 TablespoonsUnsweetened Cocoa Powder

½ teaspoonsSalt

½ cupsUnsalted Butter, At Room Temperature

1 cupWhite Sugar

¾ teaspoonsPure Vanilla Extract

2 wholeLarge Eggs

¾ cupsSemi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

½ cupsCrunchy Peanut Butter

1-½ teaspoonCanola Oil

2 cupsMini Marshmallows

½ cupsChopped And Toasted Pecans

2 cupsConfectioner's Sugar

⅛ teaspoonsSalt

4 TablespoonsUnsalted Butter

2 TablespoonsUnsweetened Cocoa Powder

¼ cupsPlus 2 Tablespoons Of Milk

¼ teaspoonsPure Vanilla Extract

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8×8″ square baking pan with parchment paper or foil. If using foil, spray it with cooking spray.

When brownie layer is done baking, combine peanut butter and oil in a microwave safe bowl or measuring cup and microwave on high for 20 seconds to soften. Pour this warm mixture over hot brownie and spread. Sprinkle the peanut butter covered brownies with marshmallows. Return to oven to bake for 3 more minutes, or until the marshmallows puff. Remove from oven and sprinkle puffed marshmallows with toasted pecans.

To make frosting, combine confectioners sugar and salt. In small saucepan, melt 4 Tablespoons butter over medium heat. When butter is melted, add the 2 Tablespoons of cocoa powder and 1/4 cup of the milk and heat until the mixture begins to boil. Pour this mixture into confectioners sugar/salt mixture and beat on high speed with an electric mixer until smooth and glossy. If frosting is not pourable at this point, add remaining 2 Tablespoons of milk.. Lastly, beat in 1/4 teaspoon vanilla, then pour evenly over puffed marshmallows and pecans.

Let cool completely in refrigerator for 1-2 hours. Cut into squares and enjoy!